Govt pools foreign aid to reconstruct W. Sumatra

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/22/2010 10:49 AM

The government launched Thursday a multilateral donor fund aiming to mobilize and manage Rp 22.9 trillion (US$2.47 billion) to help rebuild earthquake-hit West Sumatra.

The fund, designated the Indonesia Multi Donor Fund Facility for Disaster Response (IMDFF-DR), is expected to provide a solution to some of the previous problems encountered in the previously poorly coordinated channeling of donated funds after natural disasters.

“This country is prone to natural disasters so we should prepare a good management system to handle donations, not only for West Sumatra, but also for other disasters that may arise in the future.

West Sumatra was hard-hit by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake in September last year, killing at least 1,117 people.

The earthquake reportedly heavily damaged 114,797 houses, moderately damaged 67,198 houses and lightly damaged 67,838 houses.

National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) Deputy Chairman Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo said during the launching ceremony that the country had previous experience of rather disorganized and uncoordinated distribution of incoming disaster aid funds.

“We have learnt from previous disasters like the earthquake and tsunami in Aceh and also the Yogyakarta earthquake when the channeling of donations has been not well-organized.” Lukita said.

The IMDFF-DR was expected to be the sole official government entity with the authority to pool and channel donated funds from foreign governments and agencies.

“We hope this can [help] eliminate the problems we encountered in the past, so that we can recover from disasters more quickly,” Lukita said.

This body is fully under government control, and managed by a steering committee to be chaired by the Bappenas deputy chairman on regions and regional autonomy.

“Among the officials involved in the body are representatives from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency [BNPB], as well as all disaster-related ministries, including the Finance Ministry,” Lukita said.

A number of international organizations have supported the new body; these include the World Bank as a trustee, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as the administrative agent, as well as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Bakri Beck, the deputy for rehabilitation and reconstruction at the BNPB, meanwhile, said that West Sumatra would need an estimated Rp 22.9 trillion to fund recovery.

“As much as Rp 3.23 trillion are needed to help the economy recover in the province, both in the short-term and long-term.

“Physical reconstruction, meanwhile, would cost up to Rp 19.67 trillion,” he said.

According to Bakri, 80 percent of physical reconstruction will be needed for destroyed or damaged infrastructure (such as public facilities, roads and bridges) and housing.

“Infrastructure in the productive sector, such as trade and Small Medium Enterprises [SMEs], suffered 11 percent of the total infrastructure damage reported,” he said.

The government would be able to allocate to the required recovery program Rp 7.1 trillion from the state budget, or only 31 percent of the total funds needed to fund full recovery in West Sumatra.

Bakrie added that the West Sumatra administration and the BNPB had studied that the government would need to disburse up to Rp 3.54 trillion just for infrastructure recovery this year, in order to meet fairly urgent needs.

“In 2011, physical rehabilitation would need another Rp 2.87 trillion,” he said. (bbs)